Hlee
Of unusual origin and meaning, possibly derived from Hebrew "leh" for heart.
Name Census estimates that about 92 living Americans carry the first name Hlee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hlee today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hlee births was 1995 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hlee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hlee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
92
~ 1 in 3,725,591 Americans
Peak year
1995
13 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2000 SSA rank
#15,944
Tracked since 1981
Census
Hlee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 188 people with the first name Hlee, which placed it at #39,872 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#39,872
National first-name rank
People counted
188
188 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hlee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hlee is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.2%) and Black (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hlee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hlee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.2% · 162
- White12.2% · 23
- Black or African American1.1% · 2
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Hlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hlee from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hlee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hlees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hlee
The name Hlee is believed to have originated in ancient Sumerian culture, one of the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia, around 3500 BCE. It is thought to be derived from the Sumerian word "hlu," which means "flax" or "linen." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with those who worked with flax, a plant used for making linen fabric.
In the ancient Sumerian cuneiform script, the name was written using a combination of wedge-shaped symbols, representing the syllables "h" and "lee." The exact pronunciation may have varied slightly due to the imprecise nature of the writing system, but it was likely close to the modern spelling.
Hlee does not appear to be directly mentioned in any major ancient texts or religious scriptures, but its Sumerian origin suggests a connection to the rich cultural heritage of Mesopotamia, which influenced many subsequent civilizations in the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Hlee was a Sumerian merchant who lived around 2500 BCE. His name was inscribed on a clay tablet documenting a trade transaction, providing evidence of the name's usage during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Hlee, though it has remained relatively uncommon. One such person was Hlee the Scribe, a Sumerian scholar who lived in the city of Uruk around 2300 BCE. He was known for his contributions to the preservation and transmission of ancient Sumerian literature.
In the 17th century BCE, there was a Babylonian official named Hlee-shemu, who served under King Hammurabi. He was responsible for overseeing agricultural projects and ensuring a steady supply of flax for the production of linen.
Another notable figure was Hlee of Lagash, a Sumerian poet and musician who lived around 2200 BCE. He was renowned for his compositions that celebrated the gods and the natural world, some of which have been preserved on ancient clay tablets.
In more recent times, there was a Syrian philosopher named Hlee al-Razi, who lived in the 9th century CE. He wrote extensively on topics such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics, and his works contributed to the development of Islamic philosophy during the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate.
While the name Hlee has remained relatively rare throughout history, its ancient Sumerian roots and connection to the vibrant cultures of Mesopotamia make it a unique and intriguing name with a rich historical background.
People
Hlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hlee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 92 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hlee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,725,591 US residents.
Is Hlee a common name?
We classify Hlee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 96 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Hlee was 1995, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hlee is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hlee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 188 people with the name Hlee, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,872 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hlee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hlee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hlee leans strongly female. 154 people counted with this name were female (84.6%), compared with 28 male bearers (15.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hlee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hlee is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.2%) and Black (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hlee most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hlee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (162 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hlee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hlee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hlee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hlee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hlee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hlee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Hlee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.